


Animal Charm

by OneNightStands



Category: Septiplier - Fandom, markiplier - Fandom, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Angst, Blood, M/M, Mild Gore, Porn With Plot, Rough Sex, Septiplier - Freeform, Steampunk, googleirl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-28 18:20:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6340177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneNightStands/pseuds/OneNightStands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is a tinker, famous for his amazing toys and inventions. One day he finds an automaton in an old junk yard and decides to fix it up. This automaton, however, may be more than Jack bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Atomatonic Electronic Harmonics

**Author's Note:**

> So this was inspired by my love of steampunk and Markiplier's 'Google IRL' video. I just couldn't shake this idea from my brain. I've tried to marry the idea of dark cabaret and steampunk but who knows haha Anyways, without further ado, enjoy. 
> 
> Also as always I will put the inspired songs at the end of each chapter.

 

In the woods there is a home like no other. The first floor is the smallest compared to the rest of the house which was supported by wooden beams and metal pipes. Each floor above the first seemed precariously perched upon the previous as though physics no longer applied. This was no ordinary home. A tinker lived in this home. 

 

Jack Mcloughlin filled his home with toys and inventions of his own. Each a mess of wiring and metal, unrecognisable as anything useful to anyone else. There were so many of these contraptions that the only furniture was a plain wire bed and a desk stacked with schematics. It was at this desk that Jack sat now, sketching out his latest idea. 

 

His back hurt from being hunched over his desk for so long and his fingers were slowly cramping from his tight grip on his pen. With a sigh he put down the pen and rubbed his eyes, stretching as he did. It exhausted Jack to draw for any extended period of time, he preferred the building process to the planning and couldn’t stand to be still for so long. After a moment he stood and headed for his kitchen. 

 

The path there was a minefield of sharp metal and experimental electrical wiring. Jack often left the wires of abandoned projects exposed as though the danger may inspire him to finish the inventions. 

 

His kitchen was the simplest room in his home, consisting of only a wood fueled stove, an icebox of his own invention, and a pair of shelves where he stored his dry foods. It was on one of these shelves that he grabbed his favorite tea leaves and began to boil water. 

 

Jack often drank tea when nights ran as late as this one had; the warm drink soothed his fried nerves. 

 

It was a quiet life he lived, alone in his home. Although he was surrounded by creation, he never felt the comfort of companionship. He was often struck with a chill at his core, the kind that no cozy fire could thaw. 

 

While Jack did have a small group of friends, loners just as he was, he was the only person that struck one as deeply and truly lonely. 

  
  
  


Jack watched the woods from his back door as he sipped hot tea. It was quiet out and sunlight filtered through the trees onto his face, warming it. It was the perfect day for picking. 

 

As a tinker, Jack was in constant need of materials. He was no bureaucrat, he did not have the money that his brothers or sisters had. So his search for materials often led him to the only place around where anything was free anymore; the junkyard. 

 

Almost everything Jack owned was from the junkyard, including the cup he currently held in his hand. It was his home away from home, one of the few places he could be his animated self with no judgements. 

 

When he finished his tea, he headed out onto the path that lead away from his home. Airships, the most popular mode of transportation, held no interest for him and so, he preferred to walk. 

 

The air left a chill on his skin and he pulled his coat tighter around himself. He was dressed plainly in a white collared shirt, flat cap, grey slacks, vest, and coat. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself as he reached the edge of the woods, where the junkyard was, and where the city began. 

 

As he approached the outskirts of the junkyard, he spotted his friend Felix, a tinker as well, searching through a pile of springs. 

 

“Felix!” He called out, waving. 

 

The other man straightened and waved back before walking further into the junkyard. Jack frowned, lowering his hand in disappointment. If there was one thing he hated most about tinkers it's that they were, without exception, solitary. 

 

Jack followed Felix into the junkyard but was soon captured by the materials he saw. With every component he found, every misplaced piece of clockwork or spring, he saw opportunity.

 

It was while he was searching for these opportunities that he came across it. 

 

An automaton, fully intact, was sitting upon a pile of cogs. Jack approached the machine carefully, wary of any artificial intelligence. Automatons were often used during times of war in place of soldiers and this one looked like it had seen better days. Although it was rare to find them in such good quality, especially in junkyards. It had been made to look human as they often are if made for a household. The machine had thick black hair and almond shaped amber eyes. Jack noticed that the synthetic skin had torn in places, revealing a metal interior. 

 

Jack could hardly believe that the rare opportunity to tinker with an automaton had just fallen into his lap. He looked around, almost expecting someone to stop him as he lifted the machine onto the metal cart he had borrowed from the junkyard. He could barely contain his excitement as he rushed out , not even stopping to talk to Felix who had become preoccupied with another pile of metal. 

 

The entire walk home Jack’s mind whirled at the idea of having his own automaton to work on. It was a tinker’s wildest dreams. He occasionally looked back at the automaton to marvel at the detail it’s creator had accomplished. Jack had never seen an automaton this elaborate, rarely did a creator go so far as to add facial hair to give the appearance of “stubble.” It must have belonged to a very wealthy family, indeed. It even wore the clothing of bureaucrats and if Jack were inclined, he could sell the clothing to a tailor. 

 

When he arrived at his home he lifted the machine to carry it inside, cradling it in his arms. It felt warm from the heat of the sun, and for a moment Jack could almost believe the machine was alive. He carried the contraption through the doorway and was about to set it down on a pile of projects when light from the window shined upon the automatons face. Jack paused and sat the automaton in a chair instead. 

 

He then hurried around his home, collecting various tools, books, and anything he thought he may need. After he had a neat pile next to the machine, he set Waltz by Eugen Yevgeni Doga. to play on his gramophone. 

 

He did not speak as he worked, though he felt urged to by the lifelike appearance of the automaton; feeling more like a doctor than a tinker. The only noise was the occasional clang of metal on metal and the lullaby from the gramophone. 

 

He had never worked on an automaton before and even though he was surrounded by many books on the subject, his nerves made it hard to focus. Every time he inspected the exposed metal of the machine, he felt like he was trespassing. However after several hours of observation he realised that this was no ordinary automaton. Every piece of clockwork was designed to replicate the human system. Wires ran through the machine like a nervous system, fibrous material fit over the metal skeleton like muscle, and the synthetic skin was unlike any other he had seen. Jack couldn’t help but sit back in awe, whoever had designed this automaton was a genius. 

  
  


The sun had set long ago, and the hearths fire cast a flickering shadow upon the robot. Jack stared at it as he paced the room, unsettled by its lively features. It seemed to stare blankly back at him, completely still and utterly unnerving. 

  
  


Jack could not decide what to do. He had figured out that a single piece was missing from the machines core function, a relatively simple fix if the books were to be believed. So why had the automaton been abandoned in a junkyard? Why spend so much time to replicate life only to toss it aside at a simple missing piece?

 

The questions prevented the nervous tinker from sleeping. Each answer he gave himself only created more questions and before he could blink, it was dawn. 

 

With a sigh, he headed towards his kitchen. Whatever the case may be for the machines abandonment, it would not prevent him from fixing it. There was a shop in town where he could buy the part he needed and luckily enough, his last invention had sold remarkably well. 

 

His morning cup of tea provided no warmth for him as he peered out at the machine from the kitchen. It sat perfectly straight, seeming to stare out into nothing. 

 

“What is your story, my friend?” Jack whispered into the air, sipping his drink. 

  
_ Who are you? _


	2. Avidan & Hanson Clockworks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am a loser at planning and I did not plan to write as much as I did but I just couldn't stop. Soooo....yeah here you go

New Covefell was a city sat precariously between two warring states. This meant that it’s inhabitants were mostly refugees, immigrants, criminals, and transient workers. Looking more like a black market than a city, New Covefell was a dangerous place. There was a mayor, whose laws were ignored as if they’d never been written. There was no class, bureaucrats and coal workers where the same, everyone was equal and no one was safe. Its population was constantly changing, expanding outward was nearly impossible without taking a state's territory and so, it built down. On the surface, New Covefell was unassuming and plain to look at. One may pass through and wonder at it’s barren streets, empty lots, and apparently vacant buildings. However, just under the surface lay a bustling city with people of all trade, creed, and color. It was here that Jack searched for the missing piece. 

The city streets were filled with people and with a cavern as large as this one, the echo was deafening. It was why Jack had moved to the surface early on in his life, he couldn’t stand the city. 

Pulling his cloak tighter around himself, he continued deeper into the city. He was headed to a small shop in the heart of the city, where the best clock smith he knew worked. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t make it that day.

 

As Jack passed a small alley way, an arm shot out and grabbed him, pulling him into the dark. He screamed for help but no one even glanced his way. Each person used to minding there own business in a city of thieves. Jack felt an arm wrap around his neck and drag him backwards, deeper into the alley.

 

“Help! Please stop!” He cried out but found he was unable to struggle against the strong grip. Then, as suddenly as it began, he was pushed forward onto the ground. The last thing he saw was the rough stone of the alley floor before a pain in the back of his head sent him into darkness.

  
  
  


When Jack awoke, he was strapped to a wooden chair. His arms and legs bound to it by rope, when he tried to struggle, the burn brought tears to his eyes. When he tried to cry out he realized his mouth was bound by the same coarse rope. His eyes darted around in panic. 

 

The room was plain, a single door occupied the space in front of him. The room was dimly lit by a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. 

 

The door soon opened to reveal a plainly dressed man. Only in a shirt and slacks, his face was kind but his eyes were hard. He stepped inside the room slowly, as though not to startle Jack, and quietly closed the door behind him. 

 

“I know you’re probably wondering where you are.” The man’s voice was soft, like he was talking to a wounded animal.

 

Jack nodded, wincing as the rope scraped his cheek.

 

“I’m sorry this is happening to you. You were a victim of chance, if that gives you any comfort.” The man took a deep sigh and stepped further into the light, closer to Jack. “Unfortunately for you, you didn’t have much money on you. Maybe if you’d had something more valuable, you wouldn’t be here. I’m gonna remove the gag, I need you to tell me where you were headed so that I can return you there when this is all over.”

The man slowly reached his arms around Jack and untied the rope. Now that he was closer, Jack could clearly see the man’s face. He was handsome, with clear hazel eyes and dark uncut hair. As the gag slipped from Jack’s face, his first instinct was to scream. The man seemed to predict that and clamped his hand over Jack’s mouth. 

 

“Please, don’t scream or I’ll have to put the gag back on you.” The man sighed and looked down. “Look, you shouldn’t trust me but I’m telling you it would be in your best interest to tell me where you were headed, calmly. And as a show of good faith, I’ll tell you my name.”

 

When he removed his hand, Jack looked down, quietly. The man seemed pleased. 

 

“My name is Kenneth. Most people call me Ken. So where were you going?”

 

Jack closed his eyes and frowned. “A clock work shop in the middle of the city.”

 

“Can I get a name?” 

 

Jack opened his eyes to study Ken further. The man seemed so sincere but Jack was sure the man had ulterior motives, why else would he be here?

 

“Avidan & Hanson Clockworks,” Jack narrowed his eyes at Ken. “Why?”

 

Ken shook his head and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. “You didn’t have anything valuable on you, but we still need to make money. You see?” 

 

Jack’s eyes widened in realization and he began to struggle against the ropes. “Don’t touch me! Don’t you fucking touch me!”

 

Ken headed towards the door and placed his forehead against the rough wood. “I promise there won’t be any pain and...we’ll only take one. It’s good you were headed to a clockwork shop, perhaps they’ll be able to fix you up.” And with those last words, Ken left and Jack was once again alone. 

  
  


The next time the door opened, a man in a mask walked in with a tray full of surgical equipment. Dark brown eyes looked blankly at him as Jack tried to plead with the man. 

 

“Please, don’t. I...I need it. I’m a tinker, I’ll be ruined if you do this.” Jack had begun to cry, tears streaming down his face as he struggled harder against the ropes.

 

The masked man set the tray down on the floor and knelt in front of Jack as he filled a syringe with a clear liquid. He grabbed Jack’s wrist and forcefully turned it until his inner wrist was exposed. Jack watched helplessly as the man injected the liquid directly into one of his veins.

 

It wasn’t long before his eyes began to drift closed, whimpering weakly in protest. “P...please…”

 

And, once again, darkness greeted him. 

  
  


Jack felt himself slip in and out of consciousness. Each time he saw flashing lights and heard a cacophony of sounds from the city. By the time he could fully wake up, he was laying on a work table in the middle of a workshop. When he tried to sit up however, he nearly fainted again. 

He leaned over the edge of the table, dizziness overwhelming his vision. Something was terribly wrong.

 

“Hey be careful!” 

 

Jack felt delicate hands grasp his arms and push him back onto the table again, laying his head down gently. He looked up to see Suzy, her long black & blonde hair falling forward and brushing his cheek. 

 

“S...Suze?” 

 

Jack felt bile suddenly rise up and he in the next moment he was leaning over the edge of the table again, emptying his stomach onto the floor.

 

“It’s okay, it’s okay…”Suzy whispered, softly rubbing his back.

 

When Jack was done retching, he sat up slowly, steadying himself on the edge of the table. It was then that he saw himself. 

 

In the mirror across from the table, Jack could see his sickly white skin, the blood stained to his white shirt, the rope marks on his wrists and across his face but what scared him the most, was the bandage around his right eye. He slowly reached up to touch the bandage but Suzy grabbed his wrist before he could.

 

“Don’t…” She looked like she was about to cry and Jack set his hand back down. 

 

“What….what happened?” He felt like he was suffocating. “What happened Suzy!?” 

 

She took a step back and frowned, placing her arms on her hips. He noticed that she wasn’t wearing one of the dresses she normally wears and instead had on a white tank top, loosely fitting tan trousers, and brown boots; a worker's outfit.  “I was hoping you could tell us that, Jack. We heard a knock out back and there you were on the ground, doped up on drugs and missing an eye. Arin thinks you were mugged but we couldn’t be sure.”

 

Jack felt his world collapse beneath him. He remembered the kind man, Ken and the cryptic way he spoke. He remembered the needles and the rope. He remembered begging.

 

“I...I was grabbed off the streets. They said I didn’t have enough money one me and they still needed it somehow. They...they took…” Jack dry heaved over the edge of the table, trying desperately to deny the truth. “They couldn’t have Suzy! How am I supposed to….I need my full sight….” His breathing became panicked as he watched Suzy leave the room.   
  


He tried to get off the table but the second his feet touch the ground he fell forward and felt strong arms catch him. He pulled back to see that he was in Arin’s arms, a jovial smile on the man’s face.

 

“There you are! Thought we’d lost ya for a moment!” Arin lifted Jack back onto the table and hugged the smaller man tightly. “I’m glad you’re awake, we’ll need you aware for this.”

 

“How…”Jack furrowed his eyebrows as he felt anger rise up in him. “How can you be so happy? I’m ruined!” Jack pointed to the bandage, not bothering to let the older man reply. “I can’t be a tinker missing half my fucking vision and here you are just….FUCK!”

 

Jack clutched his cheek where Arin had just slapped him and glared. “You hit like a girl.”

 

Arin laughed and turned to Suzy, who stood behind him trying to stifle a laugh. “Will you go get our kind guest some water please?”

 

She nodded, “Sure thing darling.” Then kissed him on the cheek before leaving the room. 

 

“Now,” Arin grabbed a chair from his workbench and placed it in front of Jack before sitting down. “I can be so happy because when we found you this morning we weren’t sure whether you were alive or not. Imagine finding one of your best friends at your doorstep covered in blood. However, clearly, you’re fine.” 

 

When Jack started to protest, Arin held up his hand and silenced him. 

 

“And about your eye, we’ve already got that covered.” 

 

It was then that Jack noticed the dark circles under Arin’s usually bright brown eyes. His hands were stained with grease and his hair was pulled back tightly. His clothes where as stained as his hands, his usually clean white collared shirt and brown vest were covered in dark marks, his dark brown trousers where in the same state. He looked like he’d been working for days.

 

“I’m sorry.” Jack looked down, ashamed. His cheeks were warm and he only looked back up when Arin placed a hand on his knee. 

 

“Don’t worry about it. I’d probably freak out too if I were in your position.” Arin squeezed his knee lightly before standing up and stretching. “If you’re up to it, you can follow me back into the workshop. Dan, Brian, and I have been working on a new eye for you, it’s taken a couple of days but I think we found a design that’ll works for you.”

 

Jack widened his eye in surprise. “How long was I out for?”

 

Arin responded as Suzy entered the room with a metal cup of water. “About four days, why?”

 

Jack scrambled down from the table, almost knocking Suzy in the process and nearly falling into the sick he had thrown up earlier. “I have to get home! I...fuck...what if someone broke in?”

 

“Woah, you’re not going anywhere until you’re fully recovered.” Suzy insisted, handing Jack the cup of water, which he drank hastily. 

 

“You don’t understand!” Jack slammed the cup on the table harder than he meant to. “I was in the city on my way to see you guys! I found something in the junkyard. I’ve never seen anything like it!”

 

Arin motioned for Jack to follow him. “What was it?”

 

Jack followed him out of the smaller workshop and into a large room. Every inch was filled with clockwork machines, from simple clocks to intricate weaponry. For a moment, it left Jack speechless. 

 

“Hey! Look who’s awake!” 

 

Dan waved from the other side of the shop before returning his focus to his own projects. Jack understood that, he understood being consumed like that. 

 

Arin turned to him and placed a hand on his arm. “Jack, what did you find?”

 

Jack glanced around the room, something was off. “Where’s Brian?”

The older man usually wasn’t far his companions. It was then that Jack felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He turned slowly coming face to face with eyes as bright blue as his own. 

 

“Hey there Brian.” Jack whispered, startled still by the eerie gaze Brian was giving him. It was then that the older man smiled and laughed, grasping Jack in a hug. 

 

“Hey there stranger. You had us worried there for a moment. Glad to see you’re doing better!” Brian’s attitude change made Jack cringe but he was used to the odd changes. 

 

“Brian! Get back over here! I can’t finish this without you!” Danny called and Brian hastily retreated. 

 

It all happened so quickly, Jack could barely keep up. He began to sway but before he fell Arin wrapped his arm around Jack’s shoulders. 

 

“Easy there. Maybe you should sit down.” He gently guided Jack to a chair before letting go. Jack was grateful for the seat, his vision had begun to blur and it seemed to take longer for the world to come back into focus. 

 

“Now, do you wanna tell me what you were so worried about?”

 

Jack placed his head in his hands and closed his eye. “An automaton. I found an automaton in the junkyard. It’s missing a piece and I was hoping you had it.”

 

When he looked up, Arin was staring at him in disbelief. “You found an entirely intact automaton in a junkyard and all you need to fix it up is one piece?”

 

Jack nodded.

 

“That’s impossible.”

 

Suzy lightly shoved Arin and knelt down next to Jack’s chair. “It’s not impossible, Arin. If Jack said he found an automaton, then he found an automaton.”

 

Jack shot her a thankful look and returned his gaze to Arin whose expression was that of  petulant child. 

 

“Arin, trust me, I couldn’t believe it either. It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen. It couldn’t have been from around here, it’s too well crafted. It looks like the automatons bureaucrats use as servants.” Jack’s voice got louder as he became more excited, he noticed Brian and Danny had stopped working to listen too. “It’s the most beautiful craftsmanship I’ve ever seen! If I hadn’t of seen the metal underneath, I would have believed it to be a real man sitting before me! I don’t know where it came from but I was hoping if I could get it working again it would be able to answer my questions!” 

 

By the time Jack stopped talking, he was out of breath and looked around excitedly. Everyone was speechless and eventually Danny approached the three, a small metal ball in his palm. 

 

“Arin?”

 

“Yeah Dan?” He replied without looking away from Jack. 

 

“I think it’s ready.”

 

Arin turned and examined the ball in Dan’s hand, slipping on the glasses he kept in the breast pocket of his shirt. 

 

“What’s ready?” Jack asked, placing his head in his hand as a headache began to form. 

 

Dan smiled and ran a hand through his unkempt hair before gesturing to the object in Arin’s hand. 

  
“Your eye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Albion 1 - Paul Shapera
> 
> Blood on My Boots - Eliza Carthy

**Author's Note:**

> Brass Goggles - Steam Powered Giraffe  
> Animal Charm - Clare Fader


End file.
